Zanzibar

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For other uses, see Zanzibar (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Zinjibar.

Zanzibar

Zanzibar (Swahili)
‫( زنجبار‬Arabic)
Zanjibār

Flag

Coat of arms

Anthem: Mungu ametubarikia (Swahili)

God has blessed us[1]
 Location of Zanzibar within Tanzania.

The major islands of Unguja and Pemba in the Indian Ocean.

Status Semi-autonomousregion of Tanzania

Capital Zanzibar City

  Swahili
Official languages
 Arabic
 English

Ethnic groups  Arabs

 Hadimu
 Khojas
 Shirazi
 Swahili
 Tumbatu

Religion  Islam (99%)

 Christianity (1%)

Demonym(s) Zanzibari

Government Federacy

• President Ali Mohamed Shein

• First VP Seif Sharif Hamad
• Second VP Seif Ali Iddi

Legislature House of Representatives

Independence from the United Kingdom

• Constitutional monarchy 10 December 1963

• Revolution 12 January 1964
• Merger 26 April 1964

Area
• Total[citation needed] 2,462 km2 (951 sq mi)

Population
• 2012 census 1,303,569[2]
• Density 529.7/km2(1,371.9/sq mi)

GDP (nominal) 2012 estimate

• Total $860 million[3]
• Per capita $656

HDI (2017) 0.640[4]

medium

Currency Tanzanian shilling(TZS)

Time zone UTC+3 (EAT)

 • Summer (DST) UTC+3 (not observed)

Driving side Left

Calling code +255

Internet TLD .tz

Zanzibar (/ˈzænzɪbɑːr/; Swahili: Zanzibar; Arabic: ‫زنجبار‬, translate. Zanjibār) is a semi-

autonomous region of Tanzania. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean,
25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands
and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba
Island. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre is Stone
Town, which is a World Heritage Site.
Zanzibar's main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism. In particular, the islands
produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper. For this reason, the Zanzibar Archipelago,
together with Tanzania's Mafia Island, is sometimes referred to locally as the "Spice Islands" (a
term borrowed from the Maluku Islands of Indonesia).
Zanzibar is the home of the endemic Zanzibar red colobus, the Zanzibar servaline genet, and the
(possibly extinct) Zanzibar leopard.

Contents

 1Etymology
 2History
o 2.1Before 1498
o 2.2Sultanate of Zanzibar
o 2.3British protectorate
o 2.4Zanzibar revolution and merger with Tanganyika
 3Demography
o 3.1Ethnic origins
o 3.2Languages
o 3.3Religion
 4Government
o 4.1Politics
 5Geography
o 5.1Climate
 6Wildlife
o 6.1Unguja
o 6.2Pemba
 7Standard of living and health
 8Environment
 9Economy
o 9.1Tourism
o 9.2Energy
 10Transport
 o 10.1Roads
o 10.2Public transportation
o 10.3Maritime transport
 10.3.1Ports
o 10.4Airport
 11Culture
o 11.1Media and communication
o 11.2Education
o 11.3Sports
 12Notable people
 13Gallery
 14See also
 15References
 16Further reading
 17External links

Etymology[edit]
The word Zanzibar came from Arabic zanjibār (‫[ زنجبار‬zandʒibaːr]), which is in turn
from Persian zangbâr (‫[ زنگبار‬zæŋbɒːɾ]), a compound of Zang (‫[ زنگ‬zæŋ], "black") + bâr (‫[ بار‬bɒːɾ],
"coast"),[6][7][8] cf. the Sea of Zanj. The name is one of several toponyms sharing similar etymologies,
ultimately meaning "land of the blacks" or similar meanings, in reference to the dark skin of the
inhabitants.

History[edit]
Main article: History of Zanzibar
Before 1498[edit]
The presence of microliths suggests that Zanzibar has been home to humans for at least 20,000
years,[9] which was the beginning of the Later Stone Age.
A Greco-Roman text between the 1st and 3rd centuries, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea,
mentioned the island of Menuthias (Ancient Greek: Μενουθιάς), which is
probably Unguja.[10] Zanzibar, like the nearby coast, was settled by Bantu-speakers at the outset of
the first millennium. Archaeological finds at Fukuchani, on the north-west coast of Zanzibar, indicate
a settled agricultural and fishing community from the 6th century CE at the latest. The considerable
amount of daub found indicates timber buildings, and shell beads, bead grinders, and iron slag have
been found at the site. There is evidence for limited engagement in long-distance trade: a small
amount of imported pottery has been found, less than 1% of total pottery finds, mostly from the Gulf
and dated to the 5th to 8th century. The similarity to contemporary sites such as Mkokotoni and Dar
es Salaam indicate a unified group of communities that developed into the first center of coastal
maritime culture. The coastal towns appear to have been engaged in Indian Ocean and inland
African trade at this early period.[11] Trade rapidly increased in importance and quantity beginning in
the mid-8th century and by the close of the 10th century Zanzibar was one of the central Swahili
trading towns.[12]
Excavations at nearby Pemba Island, but especially at Shanga in the Lamu Archipelago, provide the
clearest picture of architectural development. Houses were originally built with timber (c. 1050) and
later in mud with coral walls (c. 1150). The houses were continually rebuilt with more permanent
materials. By the 13th century, houses were built with stone, and bonded with mud, and the 14th
century saw the use of lime to bond stone. Only the wealthier patricians would have had stone and
lime built houses, the strength of the materials allowing for flat roofs, while the majority of the
population lived in single-story thatched houses similar to those from the 11th and 12th centuries.
According to John Middleton and Mark Horton, the architectural style of these stone houses have no
Arab or Persian elements, and should be viewed as an entirely indigenous development of local
vernacular architecture. While much of Zanzibar Town's architecture was rebuilt during Omani rule,
nearby sites elucidate the general development of Swahili, and Zanzibari, architecture before the
15th century.[13]
Persian, Indian, and Arab traders used Zanzibar as a base for voyages between the Middle East,
India, and Africa. Unguja, the larger island, offered a protected and defensible harbor, so
although the archipelago offered few products of value, traders settled at Zanzibar City ("Stone
Town") a convenient point from which to trade with the other Swahili coast towns.
The impact of these traders and immigrants on the Swahili culture is uncertain. During
the middle Ages, Zanzibar and other settlements on the Swahili Coast were advanced. The
littoral contained a number of autonomous trade cities. These towns grew in wealth as
the Swahili people served as intermediaries and facilitators to local, inland mainland African,
Arab, Persian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Indian and Chinese merchants and traders. This
interaction contributed in part to the evolution of the Swahili culture, which developed its own
written language. Although a Bantu language, the Swahili language as a consequence today
includes some elements that were borrowed from other civilizations,
particularly loanwords from Arabic. With the wealth that they had acquired through trade, some
of the Arab traders also became rulers of the coastal cities.
Vasco da Gama's visit in 1498 marked the beginning of European influence. In 1503 or 1504,
Zanzibar became part of the Portuguese Empire when Captain Ruy Lourenço Ravasco Marques
landed and demanded and received tribute from the sultan in exchange for peace. Zanzibar
remained a possession of Portugal for almost two centuries. It initially became part of the
Portuguese province of Arabia and Ethiopia and was administered by a governor general. Around
1571, Zanzibar became part of the western division of the Portuguese empire and was administered
from Mozambique.[17]:page: 15 It appears, however, that the Portuguese did not closely administer
Zanzibar. The first English ship to visit Unguja, the Edward Bonaventure in 1591, found that there
was no Portuguese fort or garrison. The extent of their occupation was a trade depot where produce
was purchased and collected for shipment to Mozambique. "In other respects, the affairs of the
island were managed by the local 'king', the predecessor of the Mwinyi Mkuu of Dunga. This hands-
off approach ended when Portugal established a fort on Pemba Island around 1635 in response to
the Sultan of Mombasa's slaughter of Portuguese residents several years earlier. Portugal had long
considered Pemba to be a troublesome launching point for rebellions in Mombasa against
Portuguese rule
The precise origins of the sultans of Unguja are uncertain. However, their capital at Unguja Ukuu is
believed to have been an extensive town. Possibly constructed by locals, it was composed mainly of
perishable materials.[10]:page: 89
Sultanate of Zanzibar[edit]
Main article: Sultanate of Zanzibar
The castle in Zanzibar

The Harem and Tower Harbour of Zanzibar (p.234), London Missionary Society [18]

The Portuguese arrived in East Africa in 1498, where they found a series of independent towns on
the coast, with Muslim Arabic-speaking elites. While the Portuguese travelers describe them as
'black' they made a clear distinction between the Muslim and non-Muslim populations.[19] Their
relations with these leaders were mostly hostile, but during the sixteenth century they firmly
established their power, and ruled with the aid of tributary sultans. The Portuguese presence was
relatively limited, leaving administration in the hands of preexisting local leaders and power
structures. This system lasted till 1631, when the Sultan of Mombasa massacred the Portuguese
inhabitants. For the remainder of their rule, the Portuguese appointed European governors. The
strangling of trade and diminished local power led the Swahili elites in Mombasa and Zanzibar to
invite Omani aristocrats to assist them in driving the Europeans out.[17]:page: 9
In 1698, Zanzibar came under the influence of the Sultanate of Oman.[20] There was a brief
revolt against Omani rule in 1784. Local elites invited Omani merchant princes to settle on Zanzibar
in the first half of the nineteenth century, preferring them to the Portuguese. Many locals today
continue to emphasize that indigenous Zanzibar is had invited Seyyid Said, the first Busaidi sultan,
to their islands claiming a patron-client relationship with powerful families was a strategy used by
many Swahili coast towns since at least the fifteenth century.[21]
A narrow pedestrian alleyway in Stone Town, Zanzibar.

In 1832,[16]:page: 162 or 1840[22]:page: 2,045 (the date varies among sources), Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat
and Oman moved his capital from Muscat, Oman to Stone Town. After Said's death in June 1856,
two of his sons, Thuwaini bin Said and Majid bin Said, struggled over the succession. Said's will
divided his dominions into two separate principalities, with Thuwaini to become the Sultan of Oman
and Majid to become the first Sultan of Zanzibar, the brothers quarreled about the will, which was
eventually upheld by Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning, Great Britain's Viceroy and Governor-
General of India.[16]:pages: 163–4[17]:pages: 22–3

A Zanj slave gang in Zanzibar (1889)

Until around 1890, the sultans of Zanzibar controlled a substantial portion of the Swahili coast known
as Zanj, which included Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. Beginning in 1886, Great Britain and
Germany plotted to obtain parts of the Zanzibar sultanate for their own empires.[22]:page: 188 In October
1886, a British-German border commission established the Zanj as a 10-nautical-mile-wide (19 km)
strip along most of the African Great Lakes region's coast, an area stretching from Cape
Delgado (now in Mozambique) to Kipini (now in Kenya), including Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.
Over the next few years, however, almost all of these mainland possessions were lost to European
imperial powers.
The sultans developed an economy of trade and cash crops in the Zanzibar Archipelago with a
ruling Arab elite. Ivory was a major trade good. The archipelago, sometimes referred to by locals as
the Spice Islands, was famous worldwide for its cloves and other spices, and plantations were
developed to grow them. The archipelago's commerce gradually fell into the hands of traders from
the Indian subcontinent, whom Said bin Sultan encouraged to settle on the islands.
During his 14-year reign as sultan, Majid bin Said consolidated his power around the Arab slave
trade. Malindi in Zanzibar City was the Swahili Coast's main port for the slave trade with the Middle
East. In the mid-19th century, as many as 50,000 slaves passed annually through the port.
Many were captives of Tippu Tib, a notorious Arab slave trader and ivory merchant. Tib led huge
expeditions, some 4,000 strong, into the African interior, where chiefs sold him their villagers for next
to nothing. These Tib used to caravan ivory back to Zanzibar, then sold them in the slave market for
large profits. In time Tib became one of the wealthiest men in Zanzibar, the owner of multiple
plantations and 10,000 slaves.[23]

One of Majid's brothers, Barghash bin Said, succeeded him and was forced to abolish the slave
trade in the Zanzibar Archipelago by the British. He largely developed Unguja's
infrastructure.[24] Another brother of Majid, Khalifa bin Said, was the third sultan of Zanzibar and
furthered the relationship with the British which led to the archipelago's progress toward abolishing
slavery.[16]:page: 172
British protectorate[edit]

Monument to the slaves in Zanzibar

Control of Zanzibar eventually came into the hands of the British Empire; part of the political impetus
for this was the 19th century movement for the abolition of the slave trade. Zanzibar was the centre
of the Arab slave trade, and in 1822, the British consul in Muscat put pressure on Sultan Said to end
the slave trade. The first of a series of anti-slavery treaties with Britain was signed by Said which
prohibited slave transport south and east of the Moresby Line, from Cape Delgado in Africa to Diu
Head on the coast of India.[25] Said lost the revenue he would have received as duty on all slaves
sold, so to make up for this shortfall he encouraged the development of the slave trade in Zanzibar
itself.[25] Said came under increasing pressure from the British to abolish slavery, and in 1842 the
British government told the Zanzibari ruler it wished to abolish the slave trade to Arabia, Oman,
Persia, and the Red Sea.[26]
Ships from the Royal Navy were employed to enforce the anti-slavery treaties by capturing
any dhows carrying slaves, but with only four ships patrolling a huge area of sea, the British navy
found it hard to enforce the treaties as ships from France, Spain, Portugal, and the United States
continued to carry slaves.[27] In 1856, Sultan Majid consolidated his power around the African Great
Lakes slave trade, and in 1873 Sir John Kirk informed his successor, Sultan Barghash, that a total
blockade of Zanzibar was imminent, and Barghash reluctantly signed the Anglo-Zanzibari treaty
which abolished the slave trade in the sultan's territories, closed all slave markets and protected
liberated slaves.[28]
The relationship between Britain and the German Empire, at that time the nearest relevant colonial
power, was formalized by the 1890 Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, in which Germany agreed to
"recognize the British protectorate over ... the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba".[29]
A street scene in Zanzibar during the early 20th century

In 1890 Zanzibar became a protectorate (not a colony) of Britain. This status meant it continued to
be under the sovereignty of the Sultan of Zanzibar. British Prime Minister Salisbury explained his
position:
The condition of a protected dependency is more acceptable to the half civilised races, and
more suitable for them than direct dominion. It is cheaper, simpler, less wounding to their
self-esteem, gives them more career as public officials, and spares of unnecessary contact
with white men.[30]
From 1890 to 1913, traditional viziers were in charge; they were supervised by advisors
appointed by the Colonial Office. However, in 1913 a switch was made to a system of direct rule
through residents (effectively governors) from 1913. The death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad
bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash, whom the
British did not approve of, led to the Anglo-Zanzibar War. On the morning of 27 August 1896,
ships of the Royal Navydestroyed the Beit al Hukum Palace. A cease fire was declared
38 minutes later, and to this day the bombardment stands as the shortest war in history.[31]
Zanzibar revolution and merger with Tanganyika[edit]
Main article: Zanzibar Revolution

President Abeid Karume

On 10 December 1963,[32] the Protectorate that had existed over Zanzibar since 1890 was
terminated by the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom did not grant Zanzibar independence,
as such, because the UK had never had sovereignty over Zanzibar. Rather, by the Zanzibar Act
1963 of the United Kingdom, the UK ended the Protectorate and made provision for full self-
government in Zanzibar as an independent country within the Commonwealth. Upon the
Protectorate being abolished, Zanzibar became a constitutional monarchy under the Sultan.[33]
 However, just a month later, on 12 January 1964 Sultan Jamshid bin
Abdullah was deposed during the Zanzibar Revolution.[34] The Sultan fled into exile, and the
Sultanate was replaced by the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba,
a socialist government led by the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). Over 20,000 people were killed and
refugees, especially Arabs and Indians, escaped the island as a consequence of the
revolution.[35]
In April 1964, the republic merged with mainland Tanganyika. This United Republic of
Tanganyika and Zanzibar was soon renamed, blending the two names, as the United Republic
of Tanzania, within which Zanzibar remains a semi-autonomous region.

History of Zanzibar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Part of a series on the

History of Tanzania

Timeline
  History of Zanzibar

Colonial period

 Scramble for Africa

 German East Africa
 Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty
 Maji Maji Rebellion
 East African Campaign
 British East Africa

Modern history

 Zanzibar Revolution
 Tanganyika
 Ujamaa

Tanzania portal

 v
 t
 e

People have lived in Zanzibar for 20,000 years. History properly starts when the islands became a
base for traders voyaging between the African Great Lakes, the Arabian peninsula, and the Indian
subcontinent. Unguja offered a protected and everyone like le harbor, so although the archipelago
had few products of value, Omanis and Yemenissettled in what became Zanzibar City (Stone Town)
as a convenient point from which to trade with towns on the Swahili Coast. They established
garrisons on the islands and built the first mosques in the African Great Lakes.
During the Age of Exploration, the Portuguese Empire was the first European power to gain control
of Zanzibar, and kept it for nearly 200 years. In 1698, Zanzibar fell under the control of the Sultanate
of Oman, which developed an economy of trade and cash crops, with a ruling Arab elite and
a Bantu general population. Plantations were developed to grow spices; hence, the moniker of
the Spice Islands (a name also used of Dutch colony the Moluccas, now part of Indonesia). Another
major trade good was ivory, the tusks of elephants that were killed on the Tanganyika mainland - a
practice that is still in place to this day. The third pillar of the economy was slaves, which gave
Zanzibar an important place in the Arab slave trade, the Indian Ocean equivalent of the better-
known Triangular Trade. The Omani Sultan of Zanzibar controlled a substantial portion of the African
Great Lakes coast, known as Zanj, as well as extensive inland trading routes.
Sometimes gradually, sometimes by fits and starts, control of Zanzibar came into the hands of
the British Empire. In 1890, Zanzibar became a British protectorate. The death of one sultan and the
succession of another of whom the British did not approve later led to the Anglo-Zanzibar War, also
known as the shortest war in history.
The islands gained independence from Britain in December 1963 as a constitutional monarchy. A
month later, the bloody Zanzibar Revolution, in which several thousand Arabs and Indians were
killed and thousands more expelled and expropriated, led to the Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba.
That April, the republic merged with the mainland Tanganyika, or more accurately, was subsumed
 into Tanzania, of which Zanzibar remains a semi-autonomous region. Zanzibar was most recently in
the international news with a January 2001 massacre, following contested elections.

Contents

 1Prehistory
 2Early Arab/Iranian/Indian influence
 3Portuguese rule
 4Zanzibar Sultanate
 5British influence and rule
 6Independence and revolution
 7Union with Tanganyika
 821st century
 9Lists of rulers
o 9.1Sultans of Zanzibar
o 9.2Viziers
o 9.3British residents
 10See also
 11References
o 11.1Works cited
 12External links

Prehistory[edit]

Zanzibarians seen in 1685 by Alain Manesson Mallet

Zanzibar has been inhabited, perhaps not continuously, since the Paleolithic period. A 2005
excavation at Kuumbi Cave in southeastern Zanzibar found heavy duty stone tools that showed
occupation of the site at least 22,000 years ago.[1]Archaeological discoveries of a limestone cave
used radiocarbon techniques to prove more recent occupation, from around 2800 BC to the year 0
(Chami 2006). Traces of the communities include objects such as glass beads from around
the Indian Ocean. It is a suggestion of early trans-oceanic trade networks, although some writers
have expressed doubt about this possibility.
No cave sites on Zanzibar have revealed pottery fragments used by early and later Bantu farming
and iron-working communities who lived on the islands (Zanzibar, Mafia) during the first
millennium AD. On Zanzibar, the evidence for the later farming and iron-working communities dating
from the mid-first millennium AD is much stronger and indicates the beginning of urbanism there
when settlements were built with mud-timber structures (Juma 2004). This is somewhat earlier than
the existing evidence for towns in other parts of the Swahili Coast, given as the 9th century AD. The
first permanent residents of Zanzibar seem to have been the ancestors of the Hadimu and Tumbatu,
who began arriving from the African Great Lakes mainland around 1000 AD. They had belonged to
various Bantu ethnic groups from the mainland, and on Zanzibar they lived in small villages and
failed to coalesce to form larger political units. Because they lacked central organization, they were
easily subjugated by outsiders.

Early Arab/Iranian/Indian influence[edit]

Zanzibar (left) in the 1528 Isolarioby Benedetto Bordone

Kizimkazi Mosque: View from outside

Ancient pottery demonstrates existing trade routes with Zanzibar as far back as the
ancient Sumer and Assyria.[2] An ancient pendant discovered near Eshnunna dated ca. 2500-2400
BC. has been traced to copal imported from the Zanzibar region.[3]
Traders from Arabia (mostly Yemen), the Persian Gulf region of Iran (especially Shiraz), and west
India probably visited Zanzibar as early as the 1st century AD. They used the monsoon winds to sail
across the Indian Ocean and landed at the sheltered harbor located on the site of present-
day Zanzibar Town. Although the islands had few resources of interest to the traders, they offered a
good location from which to make contact and trade with the towns of the Swahili Coast. A phase
of urban development associated with the introduction of stone material to the construction industry
of the African Great Lakes littoral began from the 10th century AD.
Traders began to settle in small numbers on Zanzibar in the late 11th or 12th
century, intermarrying with the indigenous Africans. Eventually a hereditary ruler (known as
the Mwenyi Mkuu or Jumbe), emerged among the Hadimu, and a similar ruler, called the Sheha,
was set up among the Tumbatu. Neither had much power, but they helped solidify the ethnic
identity of their respective peoples.
The Yemenis built the earliest mosque in the southern hemisphere in Kizimkazi, the southernmost
village in Unguja. A kuficinscription on its mihrab bears the date AH 500, i.e. 1107 AD.
Villages were also present in which lineage groups were common.

Portuguese rule[edit]
Vasco da Gama's visit in 1499 marked the beginning of European influence. In 1503 or 1504,
Zanzibar became part of the Portuguese Empire when Captain Ruy Lourenço Ravasco Marques
landed and demanded and received tribute from the sultan in exchange for peace.[4] Zanzibar
remained a possession of Portugal for almost two centuries.

Zanzibar Sultanate[edit]

Zanzibar's Sultanate circa 1875

A carved door in Stone Town.

The Old Fort of Zanzibar built in the late 17th century by the Omanis to defend the island from the Portuguese.

Stone Town, 1885

Zanzibari woman, 1885

Zanzibari man, 1880

Main article: Zanzibar Sultanate

In 1698, Zanzibar became part of the overseas holdings of Oman, falling under the control of
the Sultan of Oman. The Portuguese were expelled and a lucrative trade in slaves and ivory thrived,
along with an expanding plantation economycentring on cloves. With an excellent harbor and no
shortage of fresh water, Stone Town (capital of Zanzibar) became one of the largest and wealthiest
cities in East Africa.[5] With the coming of Omani rule, there occurred a forced land redistribution as
all of the most fertile land was handed over to Omani aristocrats who enslaved the African farmers
who worked the land.[6]Every year, hundreds of dhows would sail across the Indian Ocean from
Arabia, Persia and India with the monsoon winds blowing in from the northeast, bringing iron, cloth,
sugar and dates.[6] When the monsoon winds shifted to the southwest in March or April, the traders
would leave, with their ships packed full of tortoiseshell, copal, cloves, coir, coconuts, rice, ivory and
slaves.[6]
The Arabs established garrisons at Zanzibar, Pemba, and Kilwa. The height of Arab rule came
during the reign of Sultan Seyyid Said (more fully, Sayyid Said bin Sultan al-Busaid), who in 1840
moved his capital from Muscat in Oman to Stone Town. He established a ruling Arab elite and
encouraged the development of clove plantations, using the island's slave labour. Zanzibar's
commerce fell increasingly into the hands of traders from the Indian subcontinent, whom Said
encouraged to settle on the island. After his death in 1856, his sons struggled over the succession.
On April 6, 1861, Zanzibar and Oman were divided into two separate principalities. Sayyid Majid bin
Said Al-Busaid (1834/5–1870), his sixth son, became the Sultan of Zanzibar, while the third
son, Sayyid Thuwaini bin Said al-Said, became the Sultan of Oman.
Accounts by visitors to Zanzibar often emphasize the outward beauty of the place. The British
explorer Richard Francis Burtondescribed Zanzibar in 1856 as: "Earth, sea and sky, all seemed
wrapped in a soft and sensuous repose...The sea of purist sapphire, which had not parted with its
blue rays to the atmosphere...lay looking...under a blaze of sunshine which touched every object
with a dull burnish of gold".[7] Adding to the beauty were the gleaming white minarets of mosques and
the sultan's palaces in Stone Town, making the city appear from the distance to Westerners as an
"Orientalist" fantasy brought to life.[6]Those who got closer described Stone Town as an extremely
foul-smelling city that reeked of human and animal excrement, garbage and rotting corpses as
garbage, sewage and bodies of animals and slaves were all left out in the open to rot.[6] The British
explorer Dr. David Livingstone when living in Stone Town in 1866 wrote in his diary: "The stench
arising from a mile and a half or two square miles of exposed sea beach, which is the general
depository of the filth of the town is quite horrible...It might be called Stinkabar rather than
Zanzibar".[8] Besides for the pervasive foul odor of Stone Town, accounts by visitors described a city
full of slaves on the brink of starvation and a place where cholera, malaria and venereal diseases all
flourished.[6]
Of all the forms of economic activity on Zanzibar, slavery was the most profitable and the vast
majority of the blacks living on the island were either slaves taken from East Africa or the
descendants of slaves from East Africa.[9] The slaves were brought to Zanzibar in dhows, where
many as possible were packed in with no regard for comfort or safety.[10] Many did not survive the
journey to Zanzibar.[10] Upon reaching Zanzibar, the slaves were stripped completely naked, cleaned,
had their bodies covered with coconut oil, and forced to wear gold and silver bracelets bearing the
name of the slave trader.[11] At that point, the slaves were forced to march nude in a line down the
streets of Stone Town guarded by loyal slaves of the slavers carrying swords or spears until
someone would show interest in the possession.[11] A captain from a ship owned by the East India
Company who visited Zanzibar in 1811 and witnessed these marches wrote about how a buyer
examined the slaves:
"The mouth and teeth are inspected, and afterwards every part of the body in succession, not even
excepting the breasts, etc, of the girls, many of whom I have seen examined in the most indecent
manner in the public market by the purchasers...The slave is then made to walk or run a little way to
show that there is no defect about the feet; after which, if the price is agreed to, they are stripped of
their finery and delivered over to their future master. I have frequently counted twenty or thirty of
these files in the market at one time...Women with children newly born hanging at their breasts and
others so old they can scarcely walk, are sometimes seen dragged about in this manner. They had
in general a very dejected look; some groups appeared so ill fed that their bones seemed as if ready
to penetrate the skin".[11]

Every year, about 40, 000-50, 000 slaves were taken to Zanzibar.[11] About a third went to work on
clove and coconut plantations of Zanzibar and Pemba while the rest were exported to Persia,
Arabia, the Ottoman Empire and Egypt.[11]Conditions on the plantations were so harsh that about
30% of the male slaves died every year, thus necessitating the need to import another batch of
slaves.[11] The Omani Arabs who ruled Zanzibar had in the words of the American diplomat Donald
Petterson a "culture of violence" where brute force was the preferred solution to problems and
outlandish cruelty was a virtue.[12] The ruling al-Busaid family was characterized by fratricidal quarrels
as it was common for brother to murder brother, and this was typical of the Arab aristocracy, where it
was acceptable for family members to murder one another to gain land, wealth, titles and
slaves.[12] Visitors to Zanzibar often mentioned the "shocking brutality" which the Arab masters
treated their African slaves, who were so cowed into submission that there was never a slave revolt
attempted on Zanzibar.[11] The cruelty which the Arab masters treated their black slaves left behind a
legacy of hate, which exploded in the revolution of 1964.[11]
The Sultan of Zanzibar controlled a large portion of the African Great Lakes Coast, known as Zanj,
as well as trading routesextending much further across the continent, as far as Kindu on the Congo
River. In November 1886, a German-British border commission established the Zanj as a ten-
nautical mile (19 km) wide strip along most of the coast of the African Great Lakes, stretching
from Cape Delgado (now in Mozambique) to Kipini (now in Kenya), including Mombasa and Dar es
Salaam, and several offshore Indian Ocean islands. However, from 1887 to 1892, all of these
mainland possessions were lost to the colonial powers of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy,
with Britain gaining control of Mombasa in 1963.
In the late 1800s, the Omani Sultan of Zanzibar also briefly claimed to control Mogadishu in
the Horn and southern Somalia. However, power on the ground remained in the hands of the
powerful Somali kingdom called Geledi Sultanate (which, also holding sway over the Jubba
River and Shebelle region in Somalia's interior, was at its zenith).[13] In 1892, Geledi ruler: Osman
Ahmed leased the city to Italy. The Italians eventually purchased the executive rights in 1905, and
made Mogadishu the capital of the newly established Italian Somaliland.[14]
Zanzibar was famous worldwide for its spices and its slaves. During the 19th century, Zanzibar was
known all over the world in the words of Petterson as: "A fabled land of spices, a vile center of
slavery, a place of origins of expeditions into the vast, mysterious continent, the island was all these
things during its heyday in the last half of the 19th century.[15] It was the Africa Great Lakes' main
slave-trading port, and in the 19th century as many as 50,000 slaves were passing through the slave
markets of Zanzibar each year.[16] (David Livingstone estimated that 80,000 Africans died each year
before ever reaching the island.) Tippu Tip was the most notorious slaver, under several sultans,
and also a trader, plantation owner and governor. Zanzibar's spices attracted ships from as far away
as the United States, which established a consulate in 1837. The United Kingdom's early interest in
Zanzibar was motivated by both commerce and the determination to end the slave trade.[17] In 1822,
the British signed the first of a series of treaties with Sultan Said to curb this trade, but not until 1876
was the sale of slaves finally prohibited. Under strong British pressure, the slave trade was officially
abolished in 1876, but slavery itself remained legal in Zanzibar until 1897.[8]
Zanzibar had the distinction of having the first steam locomotive in the African Great Lakes,
when Sultan Bargash bin Said ordered a tiny 0-4-0 tank engine to haul his regal carriage from town
to his summer palace at Chukwani. One of the most famous palaces built by the Sultans were the
House of Wonders, which is today one of Zanzibar's most popular tourist attractions.

British influence and rule[edit]

A Zanzibar marketplace, around 1910. A British colonist can be seen in the middle, wearing a linen suit and a Pith helmet.

The British Empire gradually took over; the relationship was formalized by the 1890 Heligoland-
Zanzibar Treaty, in which Germany pledged, among other things, not to interfere with British
interests in Zanzibar. This treaty made Zanzibar and Pemba a British protectorate (not colony), and
the Caprivi Strip (in what is now Namibia) part of German South West Africa. British rule through a
sultan (vizier) remained largely unchanged.
The death of Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 saw the Khalid bin Bargash, eldest son of the
second sultan, Barghash ibn Sa'id, take over the palace and declare himself the new ruler. This was
contrary to the wishes of the British government, which favoured Hamoud bin Mohammed. This led
to a showdown, later called the Anglo-Zanzibar War, on the morning of 27 August, when ships of
the Royal Navy destroyed the Beit al Hukum Palace, having given Khalid a one-hour ultimatum to
leave. He refused, and at 9 am the ships opened fire. Khalid's troops returned fire and he fled to the
German consulate. A cease firewas declared 45 minutes after the action had begun, giving the
bombardment the title of The Shortest War in History. Hamoud was declared the new ruler and
peace was restored once more. Acquiescing to British demands, he brought an end in 1897 to
Zanzibar's role as a centre for the centuries-old eastern slave trade by banning slavery and freeing
the slaves, compensating their owners. Hamoud's son and heir apparent, Ali, was educated in
Britain.
From 1913 until independence in 1963, the British appointed their own residents
(essentially governors). One of the more appreciated reforms brought in by the British were the
establishment of a proper sewer, garbage disposal system and burial system so that the beaches of
Zanzibar reeked no more of bodies, excrement and garbage, finally eliminating the foul smell of
Stone Town, which had repulsed so many Western visitors.[18]

Ruins in Stone Town following the Anglo-Zanzibar War


Zanzibar, before 1890

Zanzibar's House of Wonders, 1907

Old town of Zanzibar, 1918

Street in Zanzibar, 1928

Fruit market

The Sitti Binti Saad music group around 1930

Independence and revolution[edit]

Main article: Zanzibar Revolution
The Sultan's Palace.

Ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the Zanzibar Revolutionin 2004.

DDR-built apartment blocks in Michenzani, Zanzibar City

On 10 December 1963, Zanzibar received its independence from the United Kingdom as
a constitutional monarchy under the Sultan. This state of affairs was short-lived, as the Sultan and
the democratically elected government were overthrown on 12 January 1964 in the Zanzibar
Revolution led by John Okello, a Ugandan citizen who organized and led the revolution with his
followers on the island. Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume was named president of the newly
created People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba. Several thousand ethnic Arab (5,000-12,000
Zanzibaris of Arabic descent) and Indian civilians were murdered and thousands more detained or
expelled, their property either confiscated or destroyed. The film Africa Addio documents the
violence and massacre of unarmed ethnic Arab civilians.
The revolutionary government nationalized the local operations of the two foreign banks in
Zanzibar, Standard Bank and National and Grindlays Bank. These nationalized operations may have
provided the foundation for the newly created Peoples Bank of Zanzibar. Jetha Lila, the one locally
owned bank in Zanzibar, closed. It was owned by Indians and although the revolutionary
government of Zanzibar urged it to continue functioning, the loss of its customer base as Indians left
the island made it impossible to continue.
One of the main impacts of the revolution in Zanzibar was to break the power of the Arab/Asian
ruling class, who had held it for around 200 years.[19][20] Despite the merger with Tanganyika, Zanzibar
retained a Revolutionary Council and House of Representatives which was, until 1992, run on a one-
party system and has power over domestic matters.[21] The domestic government is led by
the President of Zanzibar, Karume being the first holder of this office. This government used the
success of the revolution to implement reforms across the island. Many of these involved the
removal of power from Arabs. The Zanzibar civil service, for example, became an almost entirely
African organisation, and land was redistributed from Arabs to Africans.[19] The revolutionary
government also instituted social reforms such as free healthcare and opening up the education
system to African students (who had occupied only 12% of secondary school places before the
revolution).[19]
The government sought help from the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and
P. R. China for funding for several projects and military advice.[19] The failure of several GDR-led
projects including the New Zanzibar Project, a 1968 urban redevelopment scheme to provide new
apartments for all Zanzibaris, led to Zanzibar focussing on Chinese aid.[22][23]The post-revolution
Zanzibar government was accused of draconian controls on personal freedoms and travel and
exercised nepotism in appointments to political and industrial offices, the new Tanzanian
government being powerless to intervene.[24][25]Dissatisfaction with the government came to a head
with the assassination of Karume on 7 April 1972, which was followed by weeks of fighting between
pro and anti-government forces.[26] A multi-party system was eventually established in 1992, but
Zanzibar remains dogged by allegations of corruption and vote-rigging, though the 2010 general
election was seen to be a considerable improvement.[21][27][28]
The revolution itself remains an event of interest for Zanzibaris and academics. Historians have
analysed the revolution as having a racial and a social basis with some stating that the African
revolutionaries represent the proletariat rebelling against the ruling and trading classes, represented
by the Arabs and South Asians.[29] Others discount this theory and present it as a racial revolution
that was exacerbated by economic disparity between races.[30]
Within Zanzibar, the revolution is a key cultural event, marked by the release of 545 prisoners on its
tenth anniversary and by a military parade on its 40th.[31] Zanzibar Revolution Day has been
designated as a public holiday by the government of Tanzania; it is celebrated on 12 January each
year.[32]

Union with Tanganyika[edit]

President Amani Abeid Karumeparticipating in a military parade to mark the 40th anniversary of the revolution
A kanga celebrating ten years since the revolution (mapinduzi), with references to the ASP and TANU(museum of
the House of Wonders, Stone Town)

Main article: History of Tanzania

On 26 April 1964, the mainland colony of Tanganyika united with Zanzibar to form the United
Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar; this lengthy name was compressed into a portmanteau, the
United Republic of Tanzania, on 29 October 1964. After unification, local affairs were controlled by
President Abeid Amani Karume, while foreign affairs were handled by the United Republic in Dar es
Salaam. Zanzibar remains a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania.
The autonomous status of Zanzibar is viewed as comparable to Hong Kong as suggested by some
scholars, and being recognized as the "African Hong Kong".[33]
The Zanzibar House of Representatives was established in 1980. Prior to this, the Revolutionary
Council held both the executive and legislative functions for 16 years following the Zanzibar
Revolution in 1964.[34]

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help by adding to it. (December 2017)

21st century[edit]
There are many political parties in Zanzibar, but the most popular parties are the Chama Cha
Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF). Since the early 1990s, the politics of the
archipelago have been marked by repeated clashes between these two parties. The results of the
past elections held under the multiparty system are as follows:[35]

Election Year

Political Party

1995 2000 2005

Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) 26 34 30

Civic United Front (CUF) 24 16 19

Total 50 50 50

Contested elections in October 2000 led to a massacre on 27 January 2001 when, according
to Human Rights Watch, the army and police shot into crowds of protestors, killing at least 35 and
wounding more than 600. Those forces, accompanied by ruling party officials and militias, also went
on a house-to-house rampage, indiscriminately arresting, beating, and sexually abusing residents.
Approximately 2,000 temporarily fled to Kenya.[36]
Violence erupted again after another contested election on 31 October 2005, with the CUF claiming
that its rightful victory had been stolen from it. Nine people were killed.[37][38]
Following 2005, negotiations between the two parties aiming at the long-term resolution of the
tensions and a power-sharing accord took place, but they suffered repeated setbacks. The most
notable of these took place in April 2008, when the CUF walked away from the negotiating table
following a CCM call for a referendum to approve of what had been presented as a done deal on the
power-sharing agreement.[39]
In November 2009, the then-president of Zanzibar, Amani Abeid Karume, met with CUF secretary-
general Seif Sharif Hamad at the State House to discuss how to save Zanzibar from future political
turmoil and to end the animosity between them.[40] This move was welcomed by many, including the
United States.[41] It was the first time since the multi-party system was introduced in Zanzibar that the
CUF agreed to recognize Karume as the legitimate president of Zanzibar.[40]
A proposal to amend Zanzibar's constitution to allow rival parties to form governments of national
unity was adopted by 66.2 percent of voters on 31 July 2010.[42]

Lists of rulers[edit]
Sultans of Zanzibar[edit]
Main article: List of Sultans of Zanzibar

1. Majid bin Said (1856–1870)

2. Barghash bin Said (1870–1888)
3. Khalifah bin Said (1888–1890)
4. Ali bin Said (1890–1893)
5. Hamad bin Thuwaini (1893–1896)
6. Khalid bin Barghash (1896)
7. Hamud bin Muhammed (1896–1902)
8. Ali bin Hamud (1902–1911) (abdicated)
9. Khalifa bin Harub (1911–1960)
10. Abdullah bin Khalifa (1960–1963)
11. Jamshid bin Abdullah (1963–1964)
Viziers[edit]

1. Sir Lloyd William Matthews, (1890 to 1901)

2. A.S. Rogers, (1901 to 1906)
3. Arthur Raikes, (1906 to 1908)
4. Francis Barton, (1906 to 1913)
British residents[edit]
1. Francis Pearce, (1913 to 1922)
2. John Sinclair, (1922 to 1923)
3. Alfred Hollis, (1923 to 1929)
4. Richard Rankine, (1929 to 1937)
5. John Hall, (1937 to 1940)
6. Henry Pilling, (1940 to 1946)
7. Vincent Glenday, 1946 to 1951)
8. John Rankine, (1952 to 1954)
9. Henry Steven Potter, (1955 to 1959)
10. Arthur George Mooring, (1959 to 1963)